If you’re a card carrying adherent to one of the Abrahamic faiths, then consider reading on. If you’re not, then please consider reading on anyway, but know that you’ve been warned about this diary’s content. It’s of a spiritual nature, which in my opinion has much to do (if not everything to do) with the culture, which then, in turn, affects the body politic.

We humans are much like the two dimensional characters in the novella “Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions” by Edwin A. Abbott (published in 1884). In this novella, a square living in 2-dimensional space is visited by a sphere from 3-dimensional space. The square tries to convince his fellow Flatlanders of the existence of another dimension, but is met with ridicule and eventually prison. To grasp something we cannot see is difficult enough, but to fathom something we aren’t capable of perceiving is an even more daunting matter. To the inhabitants of Flatland, 3-dimensions were the stuff of fantasy rather than reality. Yet, real it was. In much the same way, humans are privy to some aspects of reality, but not the whole shebang.

People of faith need now and again to be reminded that politics and, in general, the trajectories of nations, are not completely a matter of man. Readily, people of faith recognize the omnipotence and Providence of God, Who is appropriately credited with blessings in life. Many also recognize the sovereignty of man’s free will . . . in other words, man is allowed to “make his bed and lie in it.” We can screw things up very nicely all by ourselves. Pain and suffering both individually and on larger scales of nations are indeed caused by evil men with evil intentions. So, two great influences in the affairs of reality are usually agreed upon with little dispute; they are God and man. But, is that it?

I posit that it is not. The Bible is replete with examples of the interaction between man and angelic beings, beginning with the Book of Genesis. It was the Father of Lies, Satan (a fallen angel) who lied to man, convincing our first parents that they could be gods themselves. Adam and Eve acted and it was they who eventually decided (an exercise of their free wills), but it was dark spiritual forces that stoked man’s rebellion. In the Book of Job, Satan was allowed to torment Job as a test of his faith. In the New Testament, Jesus performs many exorcisms of out rightly possessed people and He was tempted for 40 days in the desert by none other than Satan. In a letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul speaks of demonic torment as a “thorn in his flesh”:

“So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited.” (2 Corinthians 12:7)

And, St. Paul more explicitly warns of the danger of spiritual warfare in his letter to the Ephesians (6:12)

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”

But, isn’t all this other-worldly talk just the stuff of ancient history? Sure, that might have been common around the time of Christ and before him, but we’re more enlightened now . . . right? Jesus was probably curing psychotics, certainly not real demoniacs, right?

Wrong.

Like a Flatlander denying the existence of spheres, many of us have relegated Satan and demons to the world of myth and fantasy. Satan, of course, overwhelmingly approves. If huge segments of humanity assert that he and his vast army don’t exist, then he can act with almost perfect impunity . . . not a bad theater to operate in.

Books like Father Gabriel Amorth’s, “An Exorcist Tells His Story,” indicate that an other-worldly influence, outside the scope of our perception, is not a thing of ancient myth. Fr. Amorth is the chief exorcist of Rome and apparently, he’s a busy man. Then there’s the recently sainted Padre Pio of Pietrelcina who experienced epic battles with the demonic. Supernatural realities are not just the stuff of first century Palestine, but are also applicable to 21st century America.

Are the faithful powerless? Does the old saying, “the devil made me do it,” ring with truth? No and no are the answers. The old saying, “the devil made me do it,” should be revised to, “the devil highly encouraged me to do it.” Satan didn’t make Adam and Eve take of the forbidden fruit. He only lied, cajoled, threatened, and encouraged and he will certainly do no less to you or to President Obama. “Spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (as St. Paul put it) can influence individuals and they can also influence entire nations, but the final decisions rest with our free wills. And, we are certainly not alone in the sphere of spiritual battle. We have God and the legions of heaven, the angels and the saints, as our cavalry.

When the faithful consider politics therefore, they should first and foremost regard the Lordship of God. But, at the same time, the faithful should not ignore a ravenous enemy who is continuously trying to draw individuals, families, and nations away from God.  Analogously speaking that would be like a child responding to a school yard bully by clenching his eyes shut, sticking his fingers in his ears, and chanting, “La, la, la, la.” The bully is no less real, and the child’s lip is no less swollen from the bully’s eventual punch. Beware then the enemy and cling fast to God. Pray that God not only enlighten the hearts and minds of men like Barack Obama, but that He also protect him from evil influences, both natural and supernatural.

Finally, writing on this kind of a topic, the demonic, always comes with some risk. Those who do not share the faith will likely scoff and conclude that I should be fitted with a tin-foil hat (or maybe a tin foil mitre as the case may be). Even those who share the faith may have been taught that Satan and fallen angels are simply symbols for a generic evil wrought by man alone. To critics who have made it through this entire post, I can say very little, other than to encourage them to reconsider their entire view of reality (and that is not a process done overnight or within a single blog post). To the faithful who recognize that God did create angelic entities and that some, like we humans, rebelled against Him, I encourage them to pray not only for the conversion of men with wicked ideas (and the power to bring them to fruition) like Barack Obama, but also to pray for protection and victory over the same supernatural influences that preyed upon our first parents, Adam and Eve. To re-quote St. Paul:

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”